"Sorry-"
"No, not your fault. She doesn't like unpleasantness." Crossing his legs, he plowed his hair with one hand and studied me. "I'm not sure I want to be doing this, myself, but I guess I feel obligated to help the police."
"I appreciate that, Sheriff. Hopefully it won't be unpleasant."
Haas smiled. "Haven't been 'Sheriff' for a while. Quit right after the Ardullos, started selling insurance for my father-in-law. Two years later, there was no need for a sheriff- no more town."
"Who closed it down?"
"Group called BCA Leisure bought all the land. One of those multinational deals-Japanese, Indonesian, British. The American partners are a development group out in Denver. Back then they were buying up land right and left."
"Was there any resistance from the residents?"
"Not a peep," he said. "Farming's always been a tough life, and inTreadway only two families made a serious living from it, the Ardullos and the Crimrninses. Between them, they owned ninety percent of the land. The rest of us were just here to keep their businesses going-like sharecroppers. So once they sold out, it wasn't much of a brainer. The sheriff job was only part-time, anyway. I was already living up in
Bakersfield, near my in-laws. Doing bookkeeping for my father-in-law."
"When did you move back here?"
"Five years ago." He smiled again. "Like I said, it was near my in-laws. Seriously,
I decided to pack it in when I figured I had enough policies tucked away to be comfortable. And Bakersfield was starting to look like L.A. We were thinking out of state, maybe Nevada, then this unit came up-a lucky deal, because Fairway units don't stay vacant very long. We said, why not. The air's great, terrific fishing, they show movies, you can do all your shopping right here. We travel half the year, a small place is perfect. We don't go mobiling, this thing's as rooted as any regular house. We fly. Vegas, when there's a show we want to see. Alaska, Canada.
This year, we did a big one. London, England. Saw the Chel-sea Flower Show because
Marvelle likes flowers. Beautiful country. When they say green, they mean it."
His tone had relaxed. I hated what I had to do, decided to approach the task indirectly. "The Ardullos and the Crimminses. A boy named Derrick Crimmins was quoted in an article I read about the crime."
"Carson Crimmins's son. The younger one-he had two boys, Derrick and Carson Junior,
Cliff. Yeah, I remember both of them hanging around the crime scene, along with a bunch of other kids. I don't remember Derrick talking to the press, but sure, I can see him shooting off his mouth, he always had a mouth on him. -So, tell me, why do the police send a psychologist to talk about the Monster? Don't tell me it's some kind of evaluation, they're thinking of letting him out."
"No," I said. "He's locked up tight, no release in sight. I just saw him. He's pretty deteriorated."
"Deteriorated," he said. "Like what, a vegetable?"
"Close to."
"Well that's good. He shouldn't be alive.... Deteriorated- the village idiot, that's how everyone saw him. Myself included. He was treated with kindness, pity, it's a big-city lie that small-town people are prejudiced and intolerant, like those morons you see on Jerry Springer. The Monster received more kindness in Treadway than he ever would've in L.A. Him and his mother. A couple of drifters, not a penny in their pockets, they just showed up one day and got taken in."
Haas stopped, waited for comment. I just nodded.
He said, "She was no charm-school gal, Noreen. And he was certainly no prize. But no one let 'em starve."
"Was she a difficult person?"
"Not difficult, but not exactly pleasant, either. She was sloppy-looking, kind of puffy in the face, like she cried all night. You'd try talking to her and she'd hang her head and mutter. Not as crazy as Ardis, but if you ask me they were both retarded. Him more than her, but she was no genius. It was nothing but kindness on
the Ardullos' part, taking her and Ardis in. She could cook, but Terri Ardullo was a fine cook herself. It was charity, pure and simple. Done it in a way to give them some dignity."
"Scott and Terri were charitable people."
"Salt of the earth. Scott was a nice fellow, but it was Terri had the ideals.
Religious, involved in all the church activities. The church was on land donated by
Butch Ardullo-Scott's dad. Presbyterian. Butch was born a Catholic, but Kathy- his wife-was Presbyterian, so Butch converted and built the church for her. That was a sad thing. Demolishing that church. Butch and his crew built it themselves-beautiful little white-board thing with carved moldings and a steeple they had made by some
Danish fellow over in Solvang. Butch's house was something, too. Three stories, also white board, with a big stone porch, land stretching out in all directions. They grew walnuts and peaches commercially but kept a small citrus grove out in back. You could smell the blossoms all the way out to the main road. They gave most of the oranges and lemons away. The Crimmins place was almost as big, but not as tasteful.
Two mansions, opposite sides of the valley."
His eyes clouded. "I remember Scott when he was a kid. Running around the groves, always cheerful. The house was happy. They were rich folks, but down-to-earth."
He got up, filled a glass with bottled water from the fridge. "Sure you don't want a drink?"
"Thanks, I will."
He brought both tumblers to the coffee table. Two gulps and his was empty.
"Refill time," he said. "Don't want to parch up like a raisin. Need more BTUs on the
A.C."
Another trip to the kitchenette. He drained the glass, ran his finger around the rim, set off a high-pitched note. "You still haven't told me why you're here."
I began with Claire's murder. Her name drew no look of recognition. When I recounted
Peake's babbling, he said, "I can't believe you came all the way up here because of that."
"Right now, there's very little else to go on, Mr. Haas."
"You just said he's deteriorated, so who cares what he says? Now, what is it exactly you think I can help you with?"
"Anything you can tell me about Peake. That night."
His hands flew together and laced. Fingertips reddened as they pressed into knuckles. Nails blanched the color of clotted cream.
"I've spent a long time trying to forget that night, and it doesn't sound like you've got any good reason to make me go through it again."
"I'm sorry," I said. "If it's too difficult-"
"Damn thirst," he said, springing up. "Must be going diabetic or something."
22.
HAAS RETURNED LOOKING no happier, but resigned.
"It happened at night," he said, "but no one found out till the morning. I was the second to know. Ted Alarcon called me-he was one of Scott's field supervisors. Scott and Ted were supposed to drive up early to Fresno, take a look at some equipment.
Scott was going to pick up Ted, and when he didn't, Ted called the house. No answer, so he drove over, went in."
"The door was open?" I said.
"No one locked their doors. Ted figured Scott had overslept, maybe he should go upstairs and knock on the bedroom door. That shows you the kind of guy Scott was-a
Mexican supervisor felt comfortable going upstairs. But on the way, Ted passed through the kitchen and saw it. Her." He licked his lips. "After that, God only knows how he had the strength to go upstairs."
"The papers said he followed the bloody sneaker prints."
"Ted was a gutsy guy, Vietnam vet, saw combat."
"Any idea where I can locate him?"
"Forest Lawn," he said. "He died a couple years later. Cancer." He patted his sternum. "Fifty years old. He smoked, but nothing will convince me the shock didn't break down his health."
He sat up straighter, as if affirming his own robustness.
I said, "So Ted went upstairs, saw the rest of it, and called you."
"I was still in bed, the sun had just come up. The phone rings and someone's breathing hard, gasping, sounding crazy, I can't make head nor tail out of it,
Marvelle's saying, 'What's going on?' Finally, I recognize Ted's voice, but he's still not making any sense, I hear 'Mr. Scott! Miss Terri!' " He shook his head. "I just knew something bad had happened. When I got there, Ted was on the front porch with a big pool of vomit in front of him. He was a dark-skinned fellow, but that morning he was white as a sheet. He had blood on his jeans and shoes, at first I thought he 'd done something crazy. Then he started throwing up some more, managed to stand up, just about collapsed. I had to catch him. All the while he's crying and pointing back at the house."
Putting his knees together, Haas hunched and sank lower on the couch. "I took my gun out and went in. I didn't want to mess anything up, so I was careful where I stepped. The light was on in the kitchen. I saw Noreen Peake sitting on a chair- I mean you couldn't really tell it was her, but I knew. Maybe it was the way she was dressed-" His hand waved stiffly. "Ted's boot prints were in the blood-he wore
Westerns-but so were others. Sneakers. I still didn't know if anyone was up there, so I moved really quietly. The lights were on wherever he'd-like he was showing off what he'd done. Scott and Terri were next to each other-hugging each other. I ran across the hall... found the little girl...."
He emitted a low-pitched noise, like poorly oiled gears grinding. "The FBI interviewed me, wrote it up for their research. Get your bosses at LAPD to find you a copy."
I nodded. "What led you to Peake's shack?"
"The damn blood, it was obvious. The trail had thinned but it ran down the back stairs and out the back door. Specks and spots but you could still see bits of sneaker prints. It kept going maybe twenty yards on the pathway; then it died
completely. At that point, I didn't know I was looking for Peake, only that I should head back to the shack. The sneakers were right inside Peake's door. Clerk over at the five-and-dime said Peake had tried to shoplift 'em a few weeks before and when she caught him, he mumbled and paid something and she let him keep the damn things."
Haas glared. "That was the trouble. Everyone was too nice to him. He stumbled around town looking dumb and spooky; we didn't have any real crime in Treadway, didn't recognize him for what he was. It was a peaceful place, that's why a part-timer like me could be the law. Mostly what I did was help people fix stuff, check on shut-ins, make sure someone didn't get in his car when he was blind drunk. More of a damn social worker. But Peake... he was always strange. We were all too damn trusting."
His hands were working furiously. Time to give him some breathing room. I said,
"When Treadway closed down, what happened to all the town records?"
"Boxed and shipped up to Bakersfield. But forget about finding anything there. We're talking maps, plot plans, and not much of it, at that. Sounds to me like you're digging a dry hole, Doctor. Why don't you go back to L.A. and tell your bosses to forget all this psychological stuff. Peake's locked up, that's the main thing."
He looked at his wrist. No watch. He got up and found it on one of the bookshelves, put it on, checked the dial.
I said, "I appreciate your spending the time. Just a few more things. The article I read said you found Peake sleeping."
"Like a-" His mouth trembled. "I was going to say like a baby. Christ-yeah, he was asleep. Lying on his back, hands folded over his chest, snoring, face all smeared with blood. At first I thought he'd been killed too, but when I looked closer I could see it was just stains, and that made me jam the cuffs on him."
He wiped sweat from his cheeks. "That place. I'd seen it from the outside but never been inside before. A sty- smelled worse than a dog run. What little stuff Peake owned was all jumbled and thrown around. Spoiled food, armies of bugs, empty bottles of booze, cans of spray paint, glue tubes, porno magazines he must've gotten somewhere else, 'cause that garbage wasn't sold in Treadway. No one recalls Peake traveling, but he must've. For the dope, too. He had all kinds of pills-speed, downers, phenobarbitol. The prescription pharmacist was over in Tehachapi, and they had no record of any prescriptions. So it must have been street stuff. Scum like
Peake can get any sort of thing."
"Was he stoned that night?"
"Had to be. Even after I cuffed him and screamed in his face, stuck my gun right under his nose, I could barely rouse him. He kept fading in and out, got this real dumb smile on his face, and then he'd close his eyes and be in Never-Never Land again. It was all I could do not to shoot him right there. Because of what he did-what I found in his shack." He turned away. "On his hot plate. He'd taken the knife with him, the one he used on the little girl, grabbed that baby boy out of the crib, and-"
